Lucas was headed to the house for lunch when a strange sound met his ears. Was that a baby crying?
Opening the front door, the sound intensified, and he saw Mikayla rushing around furiously, a screaming baby on her hip. Seeing Lucas she thrust the baby at him, "Hold him while I get some milk, please," she said quickly, running to fill a cup with goat's milk. She tried giving it to the baby, and he slurped at it awkwardly, screaming when most of the milk went down his front and onto Lucas's shirt.
"Um, what's going on?" Lucas said, confused as he awkwardly held the baby.
"A woman was here and just left her baby! She just left him with me! What am I suppose to do with a baby?!" Mikayla exclaimed, tears filling her eyes. "He's hungry and he should have a wet nurse but I've been trying to give him something to hold him until I can take him into town and find somewhere for him to go..." Mikayla was flustered, not knowing what to do with the surprise situation.
"Well, um, that's certainly an eventful morning," Lucas said calmly, trying not to let his voice betray his alarm. "What about sweet potatoes from last nights supper?" He suggested. "Mark loved those as a baby."
"Yes!" Mikayla said brightly, mashing up some of the potatoes, she fed the spoon to Andrew who ate it greedily. After polishing off all Mikayla had mashed up, he clapped his grubby hands together in delight. Realizing Lucas was holding him, he poked Lucas's face, his brow wrinkling in confusion at the new person.
"Lucas, meet Andrew." Mikayla said, smiling tiredly. "What am I going to do with him, Lucas?"
Lucas thought for a moment, the baby pulling at the buttons on his shirt. "Well I was going to move the cattle, but I could do that tomorrow and we could take him into town. Maybe his mother just panicked or something. I'm sure we can find a solution."
"Thank you," Mikayla breathed a sigh of relief, taking the baby from Lucas. He began unbuttoning his soaked shirt, his bare chest caught Mikayla's eyes. She thought about how comfortable he looked holding that baby, and a warmth spread through her body.
Riding in to town, she sat close to Lucas, the baby on her lap. Andrew squealed with delight when the horses flicked their tails to get the flies off their bodies.
Pulling into town, they headed for the Marshall's office, relaying their story to Micah.
"Well Lucas," he began, "in my experience, the mother is probably long gone. Best thing would be to find this baby an adoptive family."
"Is there anyone in town you think would take him?" Mikayla questioned.
"I can ask around..." replied Micah. "What about you two?"
Mikayla glanced at Lucas. The thought had definitely crossed her mind, but she was unsure what Lucas would want, especially now that things were happening between the two of them.
Lucas looked back at Mikayla, shrugging. "Well, I mean if he has no where else to go... what do you think?" He asked Mikayla.
"I don't mind," she answered truthfully.
Micah nodded, "well I'll ask around, but I highly doubt she left him there as a mistake. You might as well take him home with you folks."
They exited Micah's office, and Mikayla turned to Lucas. "I want to run over to the saloon, ask the girls there if they know anything."
Lucas nodded, "I'm going to go tell Mark, we might as well get the garden seed while we're in town too."
Mikayla took the baby and headed to the saloon, letting herself in through the empty parlor. She called up the stairs to the girls, and Samantha and Hannah came out of their rooms.
"Hello ladies, did you happen to meet a Sarah Filmore today?"
Samantha looked at her oddly, "Why Mikayla, Sarah has been here for a few days."
"Is she here now?" Mikayla asked, a little reluctantly.
"Yes, she's in her room, hold on." Samantha trotted down the hallway, knocking on another door. A woman emerged, a short, chubby blonde.
"Mikayla is looking for you."
"Who?"
The blonde case down the stairs, looking at Mikayla curiously. "I'm Sarah Filmore."
"Oh," said Mikayla, shocked. "Not the Sarah Filmore who left me with this baby."
"Mikayla, there was a woman here earlier today, said her name was Abigail, asking about someone who could help with her baby, we said you," Hannah piped in.
"Was she a small brunette, a little tattered looking?"
The girls nodded, and Mikayla sighed. The woman had given her a false name, Abigail probably wasn't her real name either. She had a feeling that Andrew's mother wasn't coming back.
She met up with Lucas at the store, where he and Mark were gathering garden seeds.
"We'd better get some baby supplies," Mikayla suggested, "I don't think the mother is coming back." She added simple cloth for diapers and clothes, turning to Lucas, "Andrew is only 9 months old, he should really have a wet nurse... Hattie, do you know of anyone who would nurse him?"
Hattie shook her head, "Not to many women in these parts can afford to feed another mouth, especially one that isn't their own. What about feeding him out of a bottle? I saw a new baby bottle in one of my catalogs if you want to look."
Mikayla nodded, "he could probably handle goat's milk." Hattie showed her the catalog, with a picture of a glass bottle with a leather nipple.
"Okay, can you order some of those for me?" Mikayla asked, and Hattie went to fill out the papers.
Turning to Lucas with the baby on her hip, Mikayla explained, "we'll just have to feed him milk with a spoon till the bottles come."
Mark was staring at the baby like Mikayla was holding a bouquet of poison ivy.
"You mean he's going to live with us?" Mark said, his face twisted with annoyance. He'd just gotten Mikayla as his mother, he wasn't ready to share her.
Lucas gave him a stern look. "Mark, you know we help those who are less fortunate than us, and this baby needs our help. I'll not have any complaining."
Mark rode behind the wagon, sulking on his horse the whole way home. He headed straight for his chores when they got to the ranch.
"Well, I don't think Mark is taking to kindly to a new brother," Mikayla commented, as the baby pulled at her ear.
"He'll come around." Lucas turned to look at Mikayla holding the little boy and said, "we seemed to have skipped a few steps in the having a child process."
She blushed, looking at the ground. "I'm sorry this got thrown on you, Lucas. I hope it's okay..."
He waved away her apology. "You don't have to apologize, this boy needs a home and we can give it to him."
She smiled, walking into the house with the baby on her hip. Lucas watched her go, thinking he could very much get used to that view.
